As we get nearer to the festival, we will be featuring the various filmmakers whose work will be screening throughout the festival.

Introduce Yourself: Hi there, I’m Preston DeFrancis. I’m originally from Wheeling, West Virginia, but I’ve lived in Los Angeles since I came out to the USC School of Cinematic Arts for my MFA in Film/TV Directing. I’m really excited that the Jackson Hole Film Festival is giving me a chance to visit such a beautiful part of the country.

How did you become interested in filmmaking? For as long as I can remember, watching and making film and television have been what I am most passionate about. As a young child, my favorite books were about movies, and I started taking piano lessons because I wanted to learn to play movie themes. It seemed natural to me to want to be a part of the filmmaking process. Unfortunately, there is virtually no film industry in West Virginia, and I felt that my dream was out of reach. Instead, I went to college to study a technical field. While an undergraduate, I was inspired by film professors and film professionals that I met to pursue filmmaking as a career; this led me to pursue my graduate degree in film.

Tell us about your inspiration and vision for the film: I have always been fascinated by the idea that different people can perceive a single event completely differently. I decided to explore that idea to humorous extremes in THE BIG PRODUCTION. The heightened nature of the comedy gave me the opportunity to allow each character’s personality to color their viewpoint so much that each one tells his or her side of the story as a completely different film genre. I loved the idea of having a single film that contains literally five genres. We were determined to make each genre distinct, each with a unique writing style, lighting scheme, and soundtrack.

What were some of the biggest challenges in making and completing the film? As a young filmmaker, mastering one style is difficult, let alone five. Yet we really tried to make every aspect of each genre true to that genre’s conventions. For instance, we actually shot the Sitcom portion of the film with multiple cameras and added a laugh track. We went so far as to shoot on four entirely different media: 35mm film, Super 16mm film, high definition video, and even standard definition video. Dealing with the different needs of each genre and format was incredibly difficult, but also an incredible learning experience and is, I think, what helps to make the film unique.

In the spirit of Jackson, what's your favorite Western? Clint Eastwood’s revisionist Western Unforgiven has been my favorite since I saw it as a teenager.

THE BIG PRODUCTION, directed by Preston DeFrancis, will screen in Student Voices I at 7:15P, Friday, June 6th at the Pink Garter Theatre and Sunday, June 8th at 9:45P at the Pink Garter Theatre.